Editor's Message
Practical magic
By Anton John Crace
What's not to love about brainstorming?
At a recent sit down with the team to think about new ideas for what content we'd like to deliver, we got things moving by undertaking a simple brainstorming exercise. If you work in management or in management education the example we used is probably familiar to you, but we decided to quickly write down as many uses for a paperclip as possible.
The ideas were fun and offered a different perspective on what an antiquated, in today's paperless world, piece of stationary could be. Jewellery, cleaning aide, lock pick, envelope opener, keyring and screwdriver were some of the highlights.
After that, the team and I progressed to solving another common question: how can snow be removed from overhead power lines at scale?
The intention of these sorts of exercises is to come up with seemingly implausible ideas and iteratively develop until they become practical solutions. In the snow example, a hair dryer could be used, but that's small can can't remove large volumes of debris. A fan could work, but while larger, suffers from the same drawbacks as the hair dryer. A windmill, meanwhile, is larger still but not easily portable. A helicopter however, is large and easily portable.
Believe it or not, in parts of northern North America, a helicopter is used for that very purpose. Reflecting on that activity, however, there are countless examples of education braining storming in the exact same way.
How do we teach and encourage people to learn a new language? Put it at everyone's fingertips, like 2016 Reimagine Education Award winner, Duolingo. How do you improve the lives of people with disabilities while also teaching engineering skills? Create a competition, like 2019 winner, CYBATHLON. How do you instil values into young people? Create a framework and course to measure it, like 2022 winner, the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues.
This is the spirit of the February edition of QS Insights Magazine. We introduce you to the latest winner, Taylor's University in Malaysia, as well as look back on some of the key talking points from the conference.
We also explore the rise of the Middle East, the potential impact of China's AI regulations, introduce you to one of the winners of the QS ImpACT Awards and explore the ethical considerations being put into AI for education.
But, my favourite this month includes just a little bit of that outside thinking, as we look at how universities are tapping into the heat beneath our feet to tackle carbon emissions.
Politely, we refer to the obstacles and barriers we experience as challenges. Many of them can seem insurmountable. But with just a little bit of magic, practical solutions can and have been found.
Anton John Crace
Anton is Editor in Chief of QS Insights Magazine. He also curates the Higher Ed Summits, EDS and Reimagine Education conference at QS Quacquarelli Symonds. He has been writing on the international higher ed sector for over a decade. His recognitions include the Universities Australia Higher Education Journalist of the Year at the National Press Club of Australia, and the International Education Association of Australia award for Excellence in Professional Commentary.